Firearm.



C. A. NELSON.

FIREARM.

APPLIOATION FILED 001215, 1912.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WITNESSES MA A 5 a M O. A. NELON. FIREARM. APPLICATION FILED 001. 15,1-912 1,082,969. Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

2 SEBETSSHEBT 2.

WITNESSES 'iNl/EIITOR,

- onaatns A. NELSON, or uricannw YORK, nssrenon '10 SAVAGE ARMS COMPANY,

or UTICA, nnw roan, a CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

' 7 Manama.

a lication filed October 15, 1912. Serial no. 725,948.

To all whom it conccrn:

Be it known that l", Cnantns A. NELSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Utica, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Firearms, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has for one of its objects to provide a simple andreliable safety locking means for firearms, this object having beencarried out in the specific form of the invention herein shown anddescribed with reference to the firing mechanism, the sear therefor andthe sear-tripping or releasing mechanism of an arm of the kindillustrated, for instance, in the patent to Searle, No. 936369, whereinis employed a device for locking the breech-bolt and the firingmechanism, which device I utilize as a detent in obstructing the firingmovement of the firing. mechanism, the'relcasing movement of the scarand the scaractuating movement of the sear-tripping mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and reliablemeans for detecting the presence or absence of a the breech ofth-e arm.

Still another object of the invention is to improve an arm of the kindillustrated in the said Scarle patent in respect to the disassemblingthereof.

in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the improved armmainly in longitudinal vertical section; Fig. 2 .is a rear elevation,partly in vertical section through the detent, a'li parts of the breechmechanism being removed excepting the firing-lever; Fig. 3 1s a planvlew of the improved'locking device; Fig. fis a plan view of the forwardportion. of the arm, with the breech partly broken away to show theimproved cartridge detector; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the breechend of the barrel with said detector in position; Figs. 6 and 7 are sideand rear and views of the detector; Fig. 8 is a side elevation of theforward portion of the arm partly broken away to illustrate that part ofthe present invention relating to the disassembling of gun; and, Fig. 9is a vertical sectional view on the line rc-nr of Fig. 8.

The frame at having the grip b; the barrel c interlocked with the frameat its enlarged rear portion (Z; the breech-bolt 6 having the removableplug f forming there- Specification of Letters a'tehii;

cartridge in spindle), and the cartridge magazine a PatentedDec. 3t),1313.

with a breech structure which slides rear Wardly on the frame underactuation pf the explosion-pressure and is returned by the spring g; thefiring mechanism arranged in the plug f and including the cocking-leverIt, a firing pin (not shown) connected therewith and a scar z forlocking the firing-pin and lever ii in cocked position; thescar-releasing or tripping means including the trigger j arranged toslide back and forth in the frame and the sear-trip is pivoted at itsforward. end in the trigger and having means Z coacting with a. shoulderm on the frame to lock the sear trip down out of the path of the sear soas to prevent double firing when, after firing,the sear is carriedforward with the breech structure; the lockmg device or detentconsisting of a spindle n journaled in the frame and having a handle 0and being adapted, when turned 90 from the position shown in Fig. 1,both to leave the breech mechanism free to move longitudinally and thecocking-lever it free to move against the firing-pin (because at thattime a lug p of the cockingdever coincides with a cross-cut slot 9 ofthe spindle a) and being further adapted, when turned into'the positionshown in Fig. l, to be received by one or the other of the notches r inthe breech bolt, to lock the breech mechanism against longitudinalmovement and to oppose firing movement of the cocking-lever (because itsslot 1 is not in registry with the lug. p which then impinges againstthe entered into the grip from below, are or be all substantially thesame as in the said patent to Searle excepting as will be hereinafterindicated.

Safety Zoo/sing mean.s*.-On apin t fixed in the lower rear portion ofthe grip is ful- ,crumed a lever forming the improved locking device.This lever u is suitably shaped from a piece of sheet .metal andincludes the part-cylindrical or channeled elongated body part 1) havingtwo lugs '50 projecting from its'opposite walls at one end thereof andalso having arms projecting from its other end and formed as follows:From the wall or'side of said body partto-Ward the observer in Fig. 3project three arms m, y and 2 from the other wall or side projectsthearin 2. The arms o ynnd z are arranged in substantially the sameplane, and arm 2 is arranged in aplane parallel therewith, being:sufficiently spaced therefrom to freely admit the magazine The lugs mhaving suitable holes for the purpose, afford means by which to fulcrumthe lever it on the pin t, which lever is so formed that when properlyassembled'with the grip of the arm with its convex side facingrearwardly, its body part '0 is exposed by a rearward openint: 8 in thegrip. Norn'zally the lever is pressed rearwarrlly, abutting against theframe at the upper end of said opening 8, by a spring 3 which is coiledabout the pin 3 and has one end bearing against the inside of the bodyart 1; of the lever and its other end engaged in a notch 4; in the grip.In this position of the lever its arm a; abuts :1 lug 5 projectingrearwardly from the t r igger while its arm. y abuts the dependingportion of the sear i whose fulcrum is at about the point 6; thecocking-lever is shown the cocked position in Fig. 1, and in thatposition the arm abuts the heel 7 at the for lard end of thecocking-lever. Thus, with the lever 'a locked in the position shown inFig. 1, it opposes such movement of the trigger, the scar and thecocking-lever would accomplish firing; with. the lever 71. free to more,upon the gun being held by its grip, the hand of the operator, intheelfort to draw back the trigger, will. move the lever is on itsfulcrum so as to cause the same to clear the pa rts j, 2' and h,allowing them to move to effect firing, the grip-forming ele ments beingso constructed and arranged as to lend themselves naturally to the quickand effective discharge of the gun by gripping and operating it in theusual Way.

flocking of the lever u in the position shown in Fig. 1'is accomplishedby the coaction of spindle n of the detent and arm a when the dotcnt isin the position wherein it is shown in Fig. l, at which time said armbears against the spindle, as shown; when Spindle is turned so as tobring a recess 1-? therein into registry with arm 2 the lever 20 is freeto move. The extremity of arm z concave to fit the cylindrical surfaceor the spindle so as to obtain a suflicicnt purchase upon the arm whenthe latter is in'the locking position to prevent the forward movement ofthe lever. It will thus be apparent that neither by carelessness inhandling nor as the effect of blows or jars, can any of the parts 7',[or is assume movement which will result in firing the gun.

Cartridge detecting means- IM enlarged part 13 of the barrel has anexterior circumferential groove 9 formed at its forward end, andextending from said groove to an opening 10 entering to the bore of thebarrel at the rear thereof exterior groove 11. The detector consists ofan elastic metallic piece formed of sheet metal and including a splitstrap 12 and a finger 13 projecting from one side of said strap andhaving its free end reboot inwardly to form a toe L1. The detector isfitted to the barrel so that the parts 12 and 13 lie in the grooves 9and 11, the toe l4 projecting through the opening 10 into the spaceoccupied by the cartridge A in the breech of the barrel. In the normalposition of the parts the finger 13 is opposite the ejection opening 15of the breech bolt. If a cartridge is in place in the breech itspresence may be detected by the forefinger of the operators hand, whichwill zit-that time find the detector 13 held more or less outwardly inthe openin 15 by the cartridge; absence of a cartric go in the breechwill appear if the operators forefinger finds the finger 13 depressedinto its groove 1". It will be noted that the free end of the detectorlies short of the rear end of the barrel, so that it does not interferewith the ejection of the cartridge.

S6GT'Z7Z ZL -It has been found that in disassembling a gun. of theSearle type (involving removing the plug f and then sliding thebreech-bolt forwardly to clear it of the frame) the sear-tripoccasionally rises high enough to engage the forward side of theadjoining projection 16 forming one of a pair of projections which coactwith projections on the plug to hold the latter in place, so that theactuator blocks the disassembling movement of the breech-bolt; thisundue rising of the sear-tri which is supposed to be prevented by tiheoverhanging barrel, occurs through lost motion due mainly to wear of theparts. 1'. therefore cut away the lower forward corner of the saidprojection 16 preferably so as to form a rearward incline or cam face 17whereby, when the breech bolt is moved forward in disassembling, "thesear-trip will be wiped down instead of opposing possible obstruction tothe removal of the breech-bolt.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent .is:--

1. In combination with the frame, mechanism to be controlled arrangedtherein, a manually moved lever controlling said mechanism andifulcrumed in the frame on a. horizontal axisir: and a locking devicerotatable in the frame also on a. horizontal axis and nornlally opposingmovement of the lever, said device having a cut-away por tion at oneside of its axis affording clear ance between said device and the leverwhen the device is turned, substantially as de-- scribed.

3. In combination with thebarrel of a gun, a cartridge detector having astrap por lion embracing the barrel and an outwardly yielding )ring;linger extending from thist up portion longitudinally of the bar l andnormally projecting into the space copied by acartridge entered rinto tlrel, said linger and strap portions of tector being recessed intobarrel, substantially as described. A

3. In combination, with-"the barrel of a gun having an externalcircumferential groove and an external longitudinal groove leadingrearwardly from'the first figroove, a cartri e detector having a stragtted into the first groove and an outwar 1y lyielding s ring fingerextending rearward y from t e strap and fitted into the second grooveand normally projecting into the space oc-' culpied by a cartridgeentered into the barre substantially as described. j

4. In a gun the combination of the frame, a breech mec anism arrangedthereon and including a forwardly removable bolt slidingly arranged onthe frame and a breechplug the breech-bolt having an internal shoulderinterlocking the breech-plug with the hreech-bolt and extendingdownwardly to the frame, firing means carried by the breech mechanism,and'means for releasing the firing means including a normall elevateddepressible sear-trip having t rustmovement in the frame substantiallyparallel with the breech bolt and projecting toward said shoulder, saidshoulder having its forward lower portion inclined rearwardly whereby todepress the sear-trip on removin movement of'the breech-bolt, substantia1y as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES A. NELSON.

